As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system may include various signals that control specific functions in the system. Some of these signals may be edge triggered signals that, once activated, remain activated until the information handling system is reset. One example of an edge triggered signal is a control signal that causes the information handling system to power off when an error in the system is detected. If the control signal is triggered, the information handling system is powered off so that the cause of the problem may be diagnosed. The control signal is then reset when the information system is powered on.
During operation of the information handling system, electrostatic discharge (ESD) events (e.g., a user walks across a carpet, generates a static charge and then touches the system) may cause false errors to occur. The ESD events may cause a voltage spike on one or more of the signals in the information handling system. If the affected signal is an edge triggered signal, the ESD event may falsely activate the signal, and in some cases, may cause the system to power down even though there is no actual error in the system.
Previous solutions for preventing ESD events from falsely activating signals in an information handling system have included adding a shunt from the signal to ground or adding an RC circuit to the signal. These solutions were effective for information handling systems having a higher core voltage (e.g., approximately 5 volts). Core voltages in current systems, however, are being reduced (e.g., to approximately 3.3 volts, 1.8 volts and below) and the previous solutions are becoming less effective for preventing a voltage spike from falsely triggering a signal.